


slow slow down

by amsves



Category: Code Geass
Genre: 'two boys being great friends with absolutely no romantic feelings between them' - me, Fluff, Gen, Literal Sleeping Together, Sharing Clothes, Sleepovers, Studying, Tutoring, the perils of calculus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 21:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13303353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amsves/pseuds/amsves
Summary: In all honesty, it just doesn’t seem fair. How can Lelouch, who attends class maybe twice a week if he’s feeling up to it, outperform Suzaku, who attends as much as he is physically able and makes up double every missed minute? It’s almost like a sick joke from God.It’s Milly’s idea, which is never a good sign.





	slow slow down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [insanity_ecstasy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/insanity_ecstasy/gifts).



> An early birthday gift for Sam~ Happy Birthday, Your Majesty! Take a break from your work and enjoy some fluffy SuzaLulu if you may. 
> 
> Title is from "Ain't Just a Feeling" by Shannon LaBrie, which is some great background music for this fic if you're interested.

It’s an unspoken rule that they don’t talk about the military.

No one in the Student Council is known for their tact, but the frowns and grimaces their probing questions bring to Suzaku’s face serve as deterrent enough. There is no mention of his Knighthood, of Zero, of the Special Zone. That sort of chatter floats through the halls and classrooms throughout the day, but is not permitted to enter the club room, via special order of President Milly.

Suzaku won’t say it, because the whole point is that they’re  _ not  _ talking about it, but it’s nice to be normal for a few hours a day. He uses the word “normal” rather loosely; Nina still gives him glances tinged with fear and disgust and something akin to curiosity, and the gag order on military talk sometimes feels  _ more _ uncomfortable than simply discussing it, but overall Suzaku is grateful for this false normalcy which exists only behind the closed door of the Student Council classroom.

There are a couple other gag rules in place, for good reason. Those privy to Lelouch’s royal status don’t dare breathe a word; in fact, the Britannian monarchy in general is considered rather off-limits. They also don’t talk about the fact that Suzaku’s grades are slipping due to his missing so much class for military reasons, nor about the fact that Lelouch’s remain near the top of his class despite going even less frequently than the aforementioned soldier. 

The last one is rather a sore subject for Suzaku.

In all honesty, it just doesn’t seem fair. How can Lelouch, who attends class  _ maybe  _ twice a week  _ if _ he’s feeling up to it, outperform Suzaku, who attends as much as he is physically able and makes up double every missed minute? It’s almost like a sick joke from God.

When he’s feeling more benevolent, Suzaku will reason that Lelouch was given such incredible intelligence as an apology for the shitshow that his life has become, but those moments are becoming more and more infrequent, so long as Lelouch whips out perfect scores like they’re nothing and Suzaku struggles to get above half credit.

It’s Milly’s idea, which is never a good sign.

“Why don’t you just have Lelouch tutor you?” she chirps one afternoon, mouth still half-full of pizza. It’s one of those rare moments when she’s not perfectly composed in her image; cheese is dripping onto the reports she’s filing, and there’s hair in her mouth. She picks the cheese off of the paper and pops it in her mouth. “I mean, he’s so good at everything, and he’s a pretty patient person. Plus, you guys are already friends!” She elbows Lelouch in the side. “Whaddaya say, Lulu?”

Lelouch rubs his side with a weary smile. “It’s not a bad idea, President. I can’t say I’d be opposed to it at all. But …”

“My schedule really doesn’t allow for tutoring, either,” Suzaku finishes. “Sorry, Milly.”

Milly smacks him with a rolled-up paper. “No buts!” She folds her arms, a confident smirk taking over her features. “Can’t you just … video-call or something? Or just have Suzaku come to your house after military duty and tutor him there? Oh! You guys are friends; just have him sleep over!”

“As much as I appreciate you inviting Suzaku over to my house, Milly,” Lelouch begins tersely, “Suzaku’s already said that it wouldn’t work for him.”

Milly elbows Suzaku in the side this time.

“Well, if I could sleep over afterwards, maybe it would work ... “ Suzaku offers sheepishly.

Lelouch turns to him with aghast horror. “Suzaku, you’re not seriously agreeing with her, are you?”

“Why not?” Suzaku shrugs. “Could be fun. And I never get to see Nunnally enough.”

The other council members start to trickle into the club room. Lelouch tugs his earlobe.  _ We’ll discuss this later _ . 

-

Later turns out to be a few days later, when Suzaku calls Lelouch in despair over their calculus homework. “Lelouch,” he whines into his cell phone as he’s getting ready to leave Lloyd’s lab, “I just don’t  _ get it _ . What even is an integral? Why do I have to know that?” 

Lelouch laughs. “It’s just, like, the opposite of a derivative? You know, add one to the exponent and then divide by that number to get your new coefficient?”

“I’m not sure what language you’re speaking, because that was neither Japanese nor English.” In the background, Suzaku hears Nunnally’s voice ask an indistinct question, accompanied by metal on china. “Are you guys eating dinner? Am I interrupting?”

“Not at all.” Lelouch pauses for a moment. “There. Now you’re on speaker. Say hi to Nunnally.”

“Hi, Nunnally.”

“Hello, Suzaku! You’re really not interrupting, I promise. In fact, I’m glad you’re joining us, even if it’s only over the phone.”

“I’m glad to be joining as well.” Suzaku shrugs off his flight suit and steps into his civilian clothes. “I’m sure Sayoko’s dinner is delicious as always.”

“We’ll save you a plate if you want to come over!” Nunnally offers eagerly, and Suzaku chuckles. 

“Not tonight, but thanks for the offer.”

“Please?” Nunnally whines, and Suzaku can picture her perfectly: bottom lip quivering, tears threatening to prick at her closed eyes, hands clasped in desperation … 

“Fine,” he concedes. “But only if Lelouch helps me with definite integrals. That’s definitely on the test tomorrow.”

He makes his way in record time to Lelouch and Nunnally’s residence, where he finds a warm bowl of beef stew and a glass of champagne waiting for me. He raises an eyebrow at Sayoko. “It’s a special occasion,” she explains with a wink. “It’s not every day you join us for dinner.”

Suzaku digs in. It’s wonderful, as it always is, and he finishes too quickly. He dreads the rest of the evening, but there’s nothing left to do. He pushes his plate aside and Lelouch slides into place next to him, textbook in hand. 

“Now, let’s start. What do you know?”

Suzaku gives him a despairing look. “Lelouch, I don’t know  _ anything _ .”

Lelouch rolls his eyes dramatically. “Okay, let’s back up. Are you okay with derivatives?”

Suzaku’s blank stare is all the answer Lelouch needs. He rolls up his sleeves and cracks his back. “Get comfortable, Suzaku. We’ll be here a while.”

“I’m more than ready to spend the night here at this kitchen table with you,” Suzaku promises, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s get down to business.”

-

They study until midnight, when Lelouch falls asleep in the middle of a sentence. Suzaku carefully picks his friend up and carries him gently to his bed. He leaves Lelouch’s clothes on, but slips him under the covers. He’s walking towards the door when Lelouch  _ snores _ , and it’s so loud and incredibly funny that he breaks out laughing, which startles Lelouch awake with a snort as he falls off the bed, which makes Suzaku laugh so hard he chokes on his own spit. 

Sayoko comes running after the second thump, as Suzaku hits the floor after his legs give out. “Nunnally is asleep, boys,” she chastises, “And you should be, too. Lelouch, get back in bed. Suzaku, I absolutely insist that you spend the night. I’ll have the guest futon ready for you in just a moment.” 

Lelouch and Suzaku turn to each other as she leaves, and burst out laughing again.

By the time their giggles subside they both have tears in their eyes. Lelouch flops back on his bed with a sigh. “I can’t remember the last time I laughed this hard.”

Suzaku wipes his eyes. “Me neither. I’m glad.” He pauses. “Thanks for letting Milly talk you into all this.”

Lelouch sits up and swats at Suzaku. “You know you’re welcome any time. Do you want to borrow some pajamas?”

“I can just sleep in my clothes,” Suzaku protests, and Lelouch throws a pajama set at his face. “Or I could borrow yours, I guess.”

Suzaku hurries down the hall to change. As he passes Nunnally’s room, a faint whisper of his voice catches his ear, and he ducks into her room. “Nunnally? Are you awake?”

“Yeah,” she whispers. “I heard something fall in Lelouch’s room. Are you guys okay?”

“We’re just fine, Nunnally,” Suzaku promises, his smile bleeding into his voice. “Lelouch fell off the bed.”

Nunnally sighs. “Oh, Lelouch.” She pauses. “Hey, Suzaku?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really glad you came over tonight.” She smiles. “You should come over again sometime. Soon. Okay?”

Suzaku crosses the room to her bedside and squeezes her hand. “Okay. Soon.” He kisses her forehead and continues on to the bathroom.

When he gets back to Lelouch’s room, the futon is spread out next to Lelouch’s bed. Lelouch himself is curled up under the covers, dark hair splayed across the crisp white of his pillow. One hand hangs over the side of his bed. His breathing is deep and even, but he cracks an eye all the same when Suzaku steps into the room. “Took you long enough,” he huffs with a smile.

Suzaku flops down onto the futon. “I don’t need to justify myself to you.”

Lelouch exhales with a smile and reaches for the lightswitch. “Goodnight, Suzaku.”

“Goodnight, Lelouch.”

A moment passes before Suzaku speaks up again. “Hey, Lelouch?”

“Hmm?”

“Thanks.” Suzaku reaches out and flicks Lelouch’s extended hand with his finger. “For. Y’know.”

“Yeah. I know.” Lelouch retracts his hand. “Goodnight. See you tomorrow. Or, well, technically, later today.”

Suzaku glances at the clock. Sure enough, it’s after midnight; the time 1:13 stares back at him in red lights. He sighs and rolls over onto his side. “Guess we’d better get to sleep then. Goodnight.”

Suzaku thinks he might be dreaming when he hears Lelouch whisper, “Come over again soon.”

-

They’re both groggy at breakfast the next morning, and Sayoko has to fix Suzaku’s buttons before he runs out the door with his jacket all rumpled. Lelouch skips first period to nap on the roof, but shows up in time for the calculus test. The test itself should be easier for Suzaku, but they did less studying than he would have liked and it’s still a herculean feat to complete. But hey, he’s pretty sure he didn’t fail, and that’s what counts.

He finds Lelouch on the roof again at lunch, and they settle down together to review for the English test the next day. It’s a beautiful day, sunny and warm with a slight breeze. Suzaku thinks studying might not be so bad, if he can do it with Lelouch.

They skip Student Council to nap on the roof and recover lost sleep. 

-

Milly glances around the club room. “Where’re Lelouch and Suzaku?” The assorted members of the council shrug, and Milly sighs. 

“They stayed up quite late last night studying,” Nunnally offers, and Milly groans.

“I didn’t mean for them to neglect their duties here! Boys …” she trails off, shaking her head. “By the way, Nunnally, how did last night go?”

“I think it was good for both of them.” Nunnally smiles peacefully. “They seemed happy. Happier than they’ve been in a while.”

Milly stretches with a smile. “Well, I’m glad. But! We can’t let them have all the fun! I’m thinking we call this meeting early. Sound good to everyone?”

Her decree is met with various levels of enthusiasm, and Milly claps her hands together. “Alright! See you guys tomorrow! Council, you are dismissed!” 

Rivalz has one foot out the door when Milly adds, “Oh, and we tell Lelouch and Suzaku that we were super productive, so they have to make up a lot of work! Agreed?”

“Agreed!” they chorus, and the meeting is over.

-

The boys slumber on atop the roof. In their sleep, Suzaku’s hand has migrated to rest overtop Lelouch’s. 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at @skeletoncloset  
> Find Sam on tumblr at @corvusam -- her art is incredible!


End file.
